The Big Picture
- As of 1980, there was no Oscar dedicated to recognizing the work of makeup artists and hairstylists, but The Elephant Man 's impressive prosthetic effects generated backlash over the award ceremony's lack of recognition for such a category.
- Actor John Hurt endured a difficult shooting schedule while wearing extensive prosthetic makeup for The Elephant Man , but his commitment to the role of John Merrick was integral to the film's emotional core.
- The inclusion of a Best Makeup Oscar category was long overdue and has allowed skilled artists to be recognized for their work.
Hollywood's Oscars ceremony has seen many alterations and additions to award categories in its nearly 100-year history. One of the most recent changes was merging the Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound Mixing categories into Best Sound, while in 2001, the Academy introduced the ceremony's youngest honor to date, Best Animated Feature. Behind Best Animated Feature as the Oscars' second-youngest honor is Best Makeup and Hairstyling (formerly Best Makeup), first awarded to seven-time winnerRick Baker for 1981's An American Werewolf in London.
As is often the case with institutional change or evolution, the implementation of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar grew out of controversy. In 1980, The Elephant Man hit theaters and enjoyed critical and commercial success, but the Academy's lack of recognition for the film's makeup effects was met with backlash that highlighted decades of oversight. From cosmetics to hairpieces to prosthetic appliances, cinema's rich history is rife with jaw-dropping makeup effects that have allowed performers to disappear into characters, so why did it take 54 years for the Academy to begin awarding the work of so many skilled artists?
The Elephant Man
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
- Release Date
- October 10, 1980
- Director
- David Lynch
- Cast
- Anthony Hopkins , John Hurt , Anne Bancroft , John Gielgud , Freddie Jones , Michael Elphick , Hannah Gordon
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
'The Elephant Man' Generated Support For the Best Makeup Oscar Category
Following his feature-length debut with 1977's Eraserhead, David Lynch undertook what's arguably his most mainstream and emotionally affecting filmmaking effort to date with The Elephant Man. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (John Hurt), a nineteenth-century Englishman who became the subject of spectacle and fame due to physical deformities, the 1980 drama required extensive makeup effects to bring the character to life. Leading the charge in the makeup department was Christopher Tucker, who had made a name for himself via prosthetic effects in period, fantasy, and horror films, but tackling the task of transforming John Hurt into Merrick would be his most ambitious and impressive to date.
Upon release, The Elephant Man garnered high praise for its story, performances, and technical elements, and the film would go on to receive eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for John Hurt. Christopher Tucker's stellar work, however, went unrecognized by the Academy. Though honorary Oscars for achievements in makeup were awarded in 1964 and 1968 for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and Planet of the Apes, respectively, no official category for Best Makeup existed in 1980. The backlash to the Academy's oversight of makeup artists was swift and fierce, with complaints put forth by numerous members finally leading to the implementation of a brand-new award category the following year.
'The Elephant Man's Makeup Was Torturous for Actor John Hurt
With a prolific career spanning more than 50 years on screens big and small, the late John Hurt was as much a chameleon as he was a professional, with David Lynch once describing him as "simply the greatest actor in the world." By the time he was cast in The Elephant Man, Hurt had received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Midnight Express and appeared in mainstream classics like Alien, but his turn as John Merrick proved one of his greatest challenges as a performer. To transform into the film's titular character, the actor endured a shooting schedule so grueling that he allegedly quipped, "I think they have finally managed to make me hate acting."
Why 'The Elephant Man' is Such A Powerful Mediation on Humanity and Fear
David Lynch's 1980 film flips our perceptions of fear and ugliness.According to Far Out, John Hurt alternated working days on The Elephant Man due to the exhausting demands of donning Christopher Tucker's extensive prosthetic makeup. The application reportedly took between seven and hours, requiring Hurt to arrive on set at five in the morning. This lengthy process was then followed by an even lengthier day of shooting that typically ran from noon until 10 p.m., at which time Hurt endured another two hours of makeup removal. Given this intense and unforgiving schedule, it's easy to understand why the actor, though dedicated as he was, worked on alternating days. Viewers may not recognize John Hurt under Tucker's makeup, but his unwavering professionalism and commitment to the role is evident, giving The Elephant Man an emotional core and narrative depth.
Without 'The Elephant Man', Decades of Makeup Effects May Have Gone Unrecognized
The work of countless makeup artists and technicians may have gone unnoticed by the Academy for decades. But thanks to The Elephant Man, its ultimate inclusion was better late than never. Through technological advances, creative ingenuity, and painstaking labor, these artists don't merely use their skills to craft eye candy. Much like visual effects, makeup and hairstyling certainly impact films on a large scale with stunning spectacle, suspending disbelief through sheer movie magic craft and artistry. But at the same time, makeup and hairstyling can service character, narrative, and thematic storytelling with seamless intimacy in a subtle manner similar to film editing, drawing viewers' eyes with an effective, and at times nearly imperceptible, touch that doesn't call attention to itself as showy or overproduced.
Christopher Tucker walked a fine line between these creative sensibilities, creating a design for John Merrick's appearance that is a sight to behold while also serving as a curious doorway into the life and mind of an intelligent, sensitive man whose unusual appearance belied the truth behind his humanity. Tucker and his fellow makeup artists may not have received well-deserved recognition for their work on The Elephant Man, but their efforts would pay off in droves by blazing a trail for others in the decades to come.
The Elephant Man is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.